A Peruvian fisherman has been found alive in the Pacific Ocean after spending 95 days lost at sea, Peru’s state news agency Andina reported Saturday.
61-year-old Máximo Napa Castro embarked on a fishing expedition from Marcona, a town in southern Peru, on December 7. Unfortunately, he encountered severe weather conditions that caused him to veer off course and lose his way, as reported by Andina.
After being adrift for months, Napa Castro was discovered on March 11 by an Ecuadorian fishing vessel in the waters near northern Peru. At the time of his rescue, he was severely dehydrated and in critical condition, according to reports from the agency.
Following his ordeal, Napa Castro shared in an emotional interview with local media that he survived by drinking rainwater he had collected while adrift and resorting to eating insects, birds, and even a turtle to sustain himself.
He spent the last 15 days without eating, Reuters reported.
Napa Castro told local media he kept thinking about his family to “hold on” to life.
“I said I didn’t want to die for my mother. I had a granddaughter who is a few months old, I held on to her. Every day I thought of my mother,” he said.
The fisherman’s daughter Inés Napa Torres thanked the Ecuadorian fishermen for saving her dad’s life.
“Thank you, Ecuadorian brothers, for rescuing my dad Gatón, God bless you,” she said in a Facebook post.
Napa Castro’s family and groups of fishermen had been searching for him for three months. “Every day is anguish for the whole family and I understand my grandmother’s pain because as a mother I understand her (…) We never thought we would go through this situation, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, we will not lose hope, Dad, of finding you,” his daughter wrote on March 3 on Facebook.
Napa Castro received medical checks at the Hospital Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes in Paita, near Peru’s border with Ecuador, and was discharged on Saturday, Ecuavisa, a CNN affiliate, reported.
CNN is trying to contact the fisherman’s family.
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